Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-23

coming down Central avenue, wnefe thc
body was found, toward Jefferson aye
nue. She had never seen the man be-
fore in Railway or in that neignbor-
hood. The man walked little faster
when he saw her, and seemed alarmed.
He was dressed in dark clothes, was
tall and stout, had heavy dark nous
tache. and wore a black Derby hat,
which was set back on his head. The
man had on an overcoat, walked very
erect. and did not seem like working
man.
James n. Brunt. who keeps grocery
store in Milton, directly opposite the
residence of the Keeches and the Froats,
was able to fix the time at which the
murder was probably committed. He
said he was awakened on Friday night
about or a little after ii o'clock by the
unusual noise made by his dog. The
dog seemed to run off bowling IN the
direction in which the body was after
ward found. 81 lay and listened and
wondered about it for fully half an
hour" said Brunt, "and then heard
the clock strike twelve. L heard the
fuss made by the dog until, | judge,
nearly O'Clock, and then he seemed
to go into bis kennel and lie down.
/ never heard him act so before.
didn't get up to see what the matter
was, although / Thought there was some
thing wrong outside.
Mr.. Brunt said that on the Sunday
morning after the murder he got up
early and went into his store. From
there he was able to see into Froat's
house. He saw Keech standing at the
window, appearing to watch everybody
that passed in the street. keech always
took good care, however, to conceal
himself when anybody came in front
of the window. AS soon as they were
past he would step up to the window
and watched to see which way they
went. Keech remained in that posi-
ton for the best part of the day. Later
Keech, Froat, Mrs. Froat, and another
woman left the house and started of III
the direction of Short Hills. Both the
Froats and the Keeches seemed to be
on the watch after the murder. Mr..
Brunt had never seen Froat do days
work since he moved there. Strange
women were constantly coming TO
FIoat's. Almost every week there were
some new women coming and going
from there. Three strange women were
at Froat's house on the Friday pre-
ceding the murder. One Of these was
a Young woman about eighteen years
old, whose hair very closely resembled
that of the dead woman. That was the
only resemblance he saw.
When the body was found Brunt
picked up the pocket-handkerchief and
found in it mass of dark-brown hair,
containing about fifty hairs an inch and
a quarter long punched together. He
thought the hair resembled keech's.
Mr. Brunt denied having sold any eggs
on the Friday preceding the murder 10
any one carrying basket like the one
found near the body Of the murdered
girl He never sold eggs. After all
this testimony Mr. Brunt said in an
swcr TO a question by the foreman Of
the jury that he entertained no suspi-
cion of murder against either Froat or
koech.
At the evening session Joseph Reifle
vas put upon the stand. Reiile is n
farmland, and created the Impression
by his testimony that he was withhold
ing something. He said he did not
hear of the murder until 10 o'clock
Saturday morning. and when he went
TO where the body was lying he did not
look at the face. He said he did not
see anything around the body, and
afterward admitted observing the bas-
ket, eggs, and parasol. He stayed in the
vicinity of the body for an hour, and
then went straight home. Upon
further examination he admitted
having stopped at Froat's on his
way home. He could not give
satisfactory account of what he
had said to Froat. He had only stayed
at Froat's four minutes, he said, but he
did not reach home until | o'clock. He
had gone to Froats after Froat's boy.
He talked three minutes to Froat and
one TO the boy. Froat said " it was an
awful deed, and the party who done it
should be found out" Finally Reiae
admitted that he did not go to Froat's
to see the boy, and that the boy was
not in the habit of coming over TO the
farm where he worked. He said he did
not go to Froat's for anyparticular pur.
pose. Witness admitted that he had
talked to Froat on the ground where the
body was found. Froat said he would
lynch the murderer if he found him.
The inquest was then adjourned until
tomorrow morning. The witness
Reife was put under arrest by the
coroner late last night and taken TO
police headquarters. 1t is asserted that
the authorities are possessed of some in
formation which will connect him with
the murder.